1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to music notation systems, and more particularly to a system method of music notation in which the staff has a direct graphical correlation to a musical instrument, such as a keyboard, and displays only the valid notes of a selected scale.
2. Background
The conventional system of music notation utilizes a staff or combinations of staves, each of which has a fundamental structure consisting of five lines and four spaces, arranged in a horizontal manner. The lines, from bottom to top, normally represent the notes E G B D F. The spaces, from bottom to top, normally represent the notes F A C E. The lines and spaces may be linearly extended toward either the top or the bottom to obtain higher or lower notes than is possible in the basic staff. Notes are displayed on this staff, with the horizontal relationship of the notes indicating their temporal relationship. The vertical placement of a note on any particular line or space indicates the pitch of the note.
It should be noted that this specification makes references to two keys. One type of key is the key which is pressed on a keyboard to sound a note. The other type of key is the Key in which the piece of music is played. The latter type of key will hereinafter be described as the Key, with a capital K.
At the upper left of the staff is a Key signature. The Key signature is a map of the scale of the selected Key. This map consists of the placement of sharp symbols or flat symbols on various lines or spaces of the staff. This notation indicates that when a note is on the sharped or flatted line or space of the staff, it is played as a sharp or a flat, as directed by the Key signature.
A scale is a listing or playing of the valid notes of any particular Key. The Key of C has no sharps or flats. The Key of G has one sharp (F). The Key of D has two sharps (F and C). The Key of F has one flat (B). The Key of B flat has two flats (B and E), etc.
An experienced music reader can tell at a glance what Key the music is written in by recognizing the pattern of sharps or flats in the Key signature.
Each line and space of the traditional musical staff represents one of the twelve semi tones of the chromatic scale. The great majority of music utilizes keys which consist of seven notes. These are called Diatonic scales.
Diatonic scales are a sub-set of the chromatic scale. A diatonic scale as used in this invention, comprises seven non-equidistant tones of an octave. The more restrictive definition, which defines a diatonic scale as consisting of five tones and two semi-tones, for a total of seven notes, is not utilized in this specification. To play the seven notes of a diatonic scale, the appropriate keys of the keyboard are depressed, and through practice and memorization, the musician knows which keys to play for a particular diatonic scale, and which keys to skip (the excess chromatic keys).
At the far left of each staff is also positioned a clef. There are three possible types of clefs; the G-clef, the C-clef, and the F-clef. The vertical position of each of these clefs on the scale indicates the pitch of a particular position on that scale. The norm is for the spiral portion of the G-clef to encircle the position of the G above middle C (the second line from the bottom), and in this position the G clef is called the treble clef. If the G-clef is located with it's spiral encircling another line or space, that line or space is assigned the G pitch. The C-clef is similarly used to define the pitch of middle C. It typically is placed on the third line or the fourth line. The F-clef locates the F below middle C and is usually positioned to indicate the fourth line, and in this position is termed the bass clef.
In the conventional music notation system, two or more staves can be displayed, and when they are connected by a brace (as shown in FIG. 1), they are termed a system. Piano music is notated using two such staves connected by a brace. The upper staff is marked with a G-clef (treble clef) on the G line, which defines that line as the G above middle C. The lower staff is marked with an F-clef (bass clef) on the fourth line which defines that line as being the F below middle C. Use of these two staves connected by a brace is termed the great or grand staff, as shown in FIG. 1. The lower staff generally indicates notes played with the left hand, and the upper staff shows notes generally played by the right hand.
The problems which arise in the traditional system of illustrating music are almost too numerous to mention. The system of using sharps and flats at the beginning of each staff can only positively identify the major scales (Keys) to the musician. Other intended scales such as minor (or natural minor), melodic minor, harmonic minor, jazz, blues, the various modes (e.g. phrygian, lydian) are not obvious.
Determining the correct note, or semi-tone, to be played is difficult because it must first be determined if the displayed note is raised or lowered by one semi-tone (as indicated by sharps and flats in the Key signature). The sharps or flats at the beginning of the staff are shown only once whereas the note alteration is done for the note regardless of where it appears on the staff. For instance, a B-flat is shown only on the middle line at the beginning of the staff but must apply to any B note, regardless of how many extension lines above or below the staff are added. The musician must be able to sight read all notes regardless of position (i.e. octave) and remember to add the sharps and/or flats to the note before playing it. The traditional system is adequate for the C-major scale (seven tones with no sharps or flats), or the chromatic scale (the twelve semi-tones of an octave). The traditional system is difficult to learn for any scale other than the chromatic scale or the C-major scale.
Some of the problems of the traditional music notation system then are knowing which Key is selected; determining which notes are to be played as flat or sharp; knowing which notes on the keyboard to skip in order to play the correct diatonic scale; and correlating the position of a note on the staff to which key on a keyboard must be played.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for knowing which Key is selected. It is another object of this invention to provide a musical notation system without sharps or flats. It is another object of this invention to display a staff in which all of the positions of the staff represent valid notes of a seven note scale. It is also an object of this invention to provide a staff which has a direct graphical correlation to a keyboard, so that each note of the keyboard is represented as a space between lines on a staff.